Business

  • Con Edison Will Acquire 981 MW of Renewable Electric Production Projects from Sempra Energy

    NEW YORK (September 20, 2018) – Consolidated Edison, Inc. (NYSE: ED) (“Con Edison”) today announced that one of its subsidiaries has agreed to acquire a Sempra Energy subsidiary that owns 981 megawatts (MW) AC of operating renewable electric production projects, including its 379 MW AC share of projects that it owns jointly with Con Edison subsidiaries, […]

  • AP1000 Reactor Set for Commercial Operation in China

    An AP1000 nuclear reactor at the Sanmen power plant in China will likely be the first of its kind to begin commercial operation, with reports saying the reactor could come online as early as September 21. A statement from China National Nuclear Power Company, issued to the stock exchange in Shanghai on September 20, said […]

  • 3-D Printed Gas Turbine Technology Marks ‘Game Changing’ Milestone

    The world’s first 3-D printed burner for an industrial gas turbine has been in operation for one year with no reported issues. Siemens, which installed the burner for the 32.8-MW SGT-7000 gas turbine at E.ON’s combined cycle power plant in Philippsthal in the German state of Hessen said on September 19 that it has been […]

  • Vogtle’s Escalating Costs Concern Lawmakers, Stakeholders

    The Vogtle nuclear expansion’s “ever-escalating” cost is concerning several members of Georgia’s General Assembly, according to a letter sent to partners building the much-delayed project. Twenty lawmakers from both houses of state government—19 Republicans and one Democrat—sent a letter to the board of directors at Georgia Power Co., Oglethorpe Power Co. (OPC), and Municipal Electric […]

  • GE Gas Turbine Blade Issue Concerns Analyst

    Lead analyst Stephen Tusa lowered J.P. Morgan’s rating on GE stock after “checks on two initial U.S. installations revealed failures of the first stage blade of GE’s H-frame gas turbine,” thestreet.com reported on September 20. Tusa—who has long been critical of GE’s prospects—reportedly wrote, “The impact on ‘asset value’ from a failure at GE’s U.S. […]

  • [VIDEO] An Iconic Nuclear Plant Shuts Down

    The Oyster Creek Nuclear Generating Station in New Jersey, the oldest operating nuclear plant in the U.S., was shut down on September 17, 2018. For more, see “Oldest U.S. Nuclear Plant Shuts Down.” Visit our video archive

  • Leading Japanese Enterprise IT Supplier Macnica Signs Strategic Partnership Agreement with AutoGrid to Deploy Flexibility Management in Japan

    Redwood City, Calif. (September 19, 2018) — AutoGrid is scaling up its presence in Japan. AutoGrid today announced a partnership with Macnica, a leading Japanese supplier of networking and software products to governments and enterprise customers, to deploy its suite of energy internet applications, AutoGrid Flex and AutoGrid Engage. The partnership will focus on extending AutoGrid […]

  • Argonne’s Joint Center for Energy Storage Research Renewed for 5 Years

    MENLO PARK, CA (September 18, 2018) – The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) today announced plans to provide $120 million over five years to renew the Joint Center for Energy Storage Research (JCESR), a DOE Energy Innovation Hub devoted to advancing battery science and technology, led by Argonne National Laboratory. “Improvements in battery performance are paramount to […]

  • How Independence Power & Light Saves Ratepayers $100k a Year Using Artificial Intelligence Technology

    At this moment, the lights are on around the country in homes and workplaces.  Most don’t realize, perhaps take it for granted, that those lights come on because of the hard work of dispatchers operating one of the most important manmade systems ever built, the national electric power grid. Without oversimplifying the process too much, […]

  • Siemens and E.ON reach milestone with 3D-printed burner for SGT-700 gas turbine

    Siemens and E.ON have reached a significant milestone in the area of 3D-printing for the energy sector. The world’s first 3-D printed burner for an SGT-700 gas turbine has been in operation for one year at E.ON’s combined cycle power plant in Philippsthal in the German state of Hessen and the results are impressive. The […]

  • PSRE Co. Announces New Version of PASS/HYDROSYSTEM

    Affordable, smart simulation has been extended to include three-phase oil/gas/water flow and multi-parameter optimization for automatic sizing of piping systems 18 September 2018.  PSRE Co., the leading developer of smart simulation and sizing tools for every piping and equipment engineer/designer, is pleased to announce the new version 4.1 of PASS/HYDROSYSTEM scheduled for release beginning of […]

  • Grasshopper Announces USD $10 Million Investment in 4-MW Solar Portfolio in Japan

    TORONTO, September 18, 2018— Grasshopper Solar, Canada’s largest vertically integrated solar energy company, announces a USD $10 million investment in six solar power plants from Univergy Solar in Japan. These six ground mount projects, ranging from 439kW to 971kW totaling 4 MW, will utilize 12,500 solar panels, generate 4,544 MWh of clean energy and deliver […]

  • Oldest U.S. Nuclear Plant Shuts Down

    The Oyster Creek Nuclear Generating Station in New Jersey, the oldest operating nuclear plant in the U.S., was shut down September 17. Workers marked the closure with a ceremony at the plant, as 400 current employees and former workers watched via a livestream as operators took the plant offline. Oyster Creek, a 625-MW single-reactor plant […]

  • Lawsuits Raise Stakes on Vogtle Nuclear Expansion Vote

    As a vote by owners on the fate of the Vogtle nuclear expansion project hangs in the balance, the City of Jacksonville, Florida, and JEA—the city’s municipal utility that serves about 458,000 electric customers—filed a complaint in the Fourth Judicial Circuit Court of Florida on September 11 asking for declaratory judgment on a power purchase […]

  • California Mandates 100% Renewable Energy

    California Gov. Jerry Brown on September 10 signed into law a measure requiring the state to produce all its electricity from renewable sources by 2045. It’s a goal that also has been set by Hawaii and is being discussed by other states. Environmental groups and renewable energy advocates immediately praised Brown’s action. Utilities operating in […]

  • IAEA: ‪Global Nuclear Power Industry Is ‘Struggling’

    Nuclear power’s share of the world’s power generating mix could shrink dramatically from 10% in 2017 to just 5.6% in 2050 as the industry struggles with “reduced competitiveness,” the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) suggested in a new report. The international organization based in Vienna, Austria, that works to promote the peaceful use of nuclear […]

  • Siemens wins major contract for grid connection at Triton Knoll offshore wind farm

    Siemens Energy Management has received an order to design, supply and build the grid connection for the Triton Knoll offshore wind farm by German customer Innogy SE. The wind farm, 32 kilometers (km) off the Lincolnshire coast, will have an installed generation capacity of circa 860 megawatts (MW) after its completion. Triton Knoll will be […]

  • Searching for Relief from the Headaches Facing the Merchant Power Sector

    Unlike their regulated counterparts, merchant power generators have increasingly struggled to compete over the last few years and the outlook for many is that this won’t change any time soon. While regulated power companies often enjoy near monopolies in their respective markets, merchant power companies build out their power generating capacity on a speculative basis […]

  • The Electricity Bill Paradox

    Driven by increased energy efficiency and the relocation of electricity-intensive industries, electricity demand and consumption has steadily declined in many developed markets during the last decade, according to the International Energy Agency (IEA). Yet middle- and working-class households, as well as small businesses, are spending more of their income on electricity than their parents’ generation. […]

  • Plans Move Forward for Privately Funded Storage of Nuclear Waste

    The Trump administration has revived the discussion of using Yucca Mountain in Nevada as a repository for the nation’s nuclear waste. Nevada officials remain opposed to the idea of putting spent nuclear fuel in long-term storage at a site about 100 miles from Las Vegas. But while a bill to resurrect Yucca Mountain as a […]

  • How Power Companies Can Influence Customer Behavior [PODCAST]

    It is safe to say that all electricity customers want reliable and resilient power service. One way that some end-users are ensuring they get it is by investing in distributed energy resources and building microgrids. But rather than simply using these systems as emergency backups, more and more owners are finding ways to capture economic […]

  • Japan Program for Reuse of Nuclear MOX Fuel in Doubt

     The Japanese government has pushed for the reuse of mixed-oxide (MOX) fuel in the country’s nuclear reactors, but utilities that finance the reprocessing have not funded those operations since fiscal year 2016, according to financial reports released by the power companies on September 2. Japan’s KYODO News reported that sources said 10 utilities, including Tokyo […]

  • Conti Solar Selected to Construct 35-MW Solar Energy Portfolio for Southern Sky Renewable Energy in Rhode Island

    EDISON, N.J. (Sept. 4, 2018) — Conti Solar, a national solar engineering, procurement and construction (EPC), O&M and energy storage company, announced today that it was selected to provide full turnkey EPC services for Southern Sky Renewable Energy’s 35 MW solar project portfolio. Headquartered in Warwick, Rhode Island, Southern Sky is the region’s leading renewable […]

  • Valmet to supply a district heat network optimization solution to Jyväskylä Energy in Finland

    Valmet has signed an automation agreement with Jyväskylä Energy Group in Finland for the delivery of its district heat network optimization solution. The delivery will cover the entire district heating network of the company’s both CHP production plants, Keljonlahti and Rauhalahti. The scope of the delivery scope also includes a Valmet DNA Information Management system […]

  • GEA supplies two plants for waste heat utilisation to India and Italy

    Düsseldorf, September 3, 2018 – GEA supplies Saint-Gobain with two Waste Heat Recovery Systems (WHRS) each for the utilisation of waste heat from the float glass production lines in Pisa, Italy and Sriperumbudur, India. Commissioning is planned for the first half of 2019. GEA technology makes it possible to generate electricity and compressed air from […]

  • GE and Construtora Quebec Partner to Build Power Plant in Brazil

    GUANAMBI, BAHIA STATE, Brazil (Sept. 3, 2018) – GE Power (NYSE: GE) was chosen by EPC Construtora Quebec, a Brazilian engineering company, to provide its 4.4-megawatt (MW) and 2.2-MW LV5 1,500-volt inverters and skids for the 14-MW Verde Vale III project in Guanambi, Brazil. This project is owned by Vientos Solutions, an owner and operator […]

  • THE BIG PICTURE: Trump’s Regulatory Targets

    President Trump campaigned on a promise to reduce regulation and control regulatory costs. One of his first actions after taking office was to issue an executive order calling for the elimination of two existing regulations for every one new regulation issued. Toward that end, the Trump administration has acted or sought to reverse more than […]

  • Australia Braces for Power System Transformation, Disruptions

    The inaugural integrated system plan (ISP) released by Australia’s Energy Market Operator (AEMO) in mid-July warns that the country is in the midst of a “transformative and unprecedented” rate of change

  • Egypt Brings New Natural Gas and Wind Power Plants Online

    New natural gas-fired power plants and wind farms are part of Egypt’s strategy to increase the country’s power generation by at least 50%. It began delivering on that plan in July as it brought three

  • A Reimagined Power Future Enabled by Digital Technologies

    The power industry is changing and leading companies are turning to digital technologies to revolutionize their operations. Monitoring and diagnostics centers are leveraging vast amounts of data from around